Saturday, February 18, 2012

NASCAR TV Hot Topics (Updated)

We are using this post for Saturday chat leading up to RaceDay on SPEED and the Bud Shootout on FOX.

Here are some Friday TV/media topics:

Tragedy struck early for a member of the NASCAR on FOX TV team. Here is the full story as posted online at various websites.

The 19-year-old son of NASCAR on Fox studio host Chris Myers has been killed in a car accident.

The network says Myers will not be part of Fox's coverage of the season-opening Daytona 500. Christopher Myers was killed Thursday in Southern California, where the family resides.

SPEED studio host John Roberts will replace Myers at Daytona International Speedway.

Roberts will assume Myers' responsibilities as host of Saturday night's studio show before the Budweiser Shootout, during Sunday's qualifying, and the pre-race show for the Feb. 26 season-opening Daytona 500.

Fox says Myers will be given as much time off as he needs.

Update 8:30PM - SPEED says Steve Byrnes will now move to host NASCAR RaceDay and Rick Allen will host the Victory Lane post-race show on SPEED

MRN's Barney Hall has been advised by his doctor to stay home due to a health issue. Joe Moore passed along the fact that Hall will not be at the track this season for Speedweeks.

Speaking of MRN, click here to read the release that finally confirmed that the MRN radio coverage will be made available online this season. Great news for lots of fans who cannot be near a radio or in areas where MRN does not have affiliates. There will also be more on this topic posted next week on TDP.

Many fans offered comments that Twitter informed them well in advance of the big practice wreck being shown on SPEED. TV calls this "time-shifted" content, which means it is delayed within the same program, not later that night or the next day. It's apparent that with the growth of social media, this practice is probably not going to be around very much longer.

TNT dropped us a line to remind fans that RaceBuddy will be cranked up for next weekend starting with the Camping World Truck Series race. It will not be available for the Bud Shootout on FOX. More details on online cameras and features will be posted next week.

NASCAR has ditched the FanView device and the new device for this season is called FanVision. NASCAR says the upgrade was needed and fans who actually bought a FanView device can go to fanvision.com and look for the link that authorizes a discount on the new model. These devices will be available for rent at the Sprint Cup Series races this season as usual.

The final Bud Shootout practice has been cut short by rain, cars back on track tomorrow. See the complete TV schedule on the left side of this page.

One final motorsports TV/media note. After ESPN3.com did not stream the live rounds of the opening Winternationals for the NHRA, the fans revolted. ESPN and the NHRA announced today they are returning to streaming every pro round live online at the ESPN3.com website. This is not the Watch ESPN app that lets you see the ESPN networks on your laptop or phone. This is a standalone website. Great news.

We will be adding stories and topics as they happen tonight. Feel free to comment on this post. Thanks for stopping by.

My prayers are with Chris Myers' family. How sad........ I wanted to leave a comment on the Bud Selection show, and after thinking about it, even after Chris Myers' tragedy, I will anyway: Why in the Hell is Kenny Wallace employed? He is an idiot. Check that, he's a drunken idiot. Even 7-Eleven wouldn't hire him. He HAS TO GO!!!!!

Lots of sad news tonight. So sorry to hear about the death of Christopher Myers. Condolences to Chris Myers and the family. No one should ever have to bury a child! That has got to be the absolute worst that could ever happen to someone.

And Get Well Soon wishes for Barney Hall. I was wondering last year about his health. There were a few races toward the end of the season that he did not sound very good.

I hope all of the TV networks get the message very soon about Time Shifting sport events and other so-called "live " programming. Spoilers on Twitter are to be expected for "live" TV shows like American Idol, but in my not humble opinion it is unacceptable for sport events and shows that are broadcast live nationwide. That was an issue for surprisingly, the Tournament of Roses Parade this year. HGTV broadcast it live without commercials. The other network (ABC?) that was doing commercials was several minutes behind. Time shifting is most annoying during NASCAR qualifying and during ARCA races. I got off Twitter tonight during Speed Center and the Shootout Drawing show knowing that it was a half-hour delay.

Awful, awful news for Chris Myers and his family. Thoughts and prayers are being sent to the Myers family at this time.

One question, however: Why is Byrnes hosting NASCAR RaceDay and not Victory Lane? Fox has five pit reporters this season, so it's not like they'd be hurting if he suddenly disappeared in the later stages of a race -- especially tonight.

Good luck to Roberts as well. Although it's under the absolute worst of circumstances, he's taking a post that some of the heavyweights of sports journalism have taken before -- host of the Daytona 500.

Thanks for letting me post my thoughts on KW, JD. I just was sickened at his behavior last night. Every time someone peeled a label, he "associated" it with a driver. Childish! A driver peels a "3" and he yells, "Earnhardt". I have said this for the last three years, when he knows he is losing the audience, he drops Earnhardt's name...The phony laugh, the childish behavior. Mind numbingly stupid! But it gets worse: Feb.26thwe get treated to "Stupidy, Stupidy, Stupidy! Insert stupid euphamism here boys!" Oh, almost forgot tonight: Stupidy, Stupidy, Stupidy, lets go Bud Shootout racin' boys!" Gawd my head hurts....

Wondering if any parts of Race Buddy are going to be available for the IPhone 4 OS5? I heard on Speed last night that you can watch Speed live on your smart phone if you have Sprint service. I have Verizon, so that is a no go for me.

Garry I completely agree with you that KW is still employed. Unlike a lot of you, I have heard Rut do indepth interviews and he asks terrific questions. I guess his bosses want him to be the comedic sidekick and use him as an afterthought. My heart is saddened for Myers family. I am trying to watch the dvr'd shows and I wish someone would point out the Cpost on the car and not show it on top of the hood after they take it off. Here in Houston it has been raining over a day so when it heads east hopefully it won't interfere with Daytona's speedweeks.

I will be at a huge cheerleading competition in Atlanta this weekend and my daughter will be performing about an hour into the race it would be awesome if I could watch the race on my android phone! Guess I'll have to wait and watch it on the dvr when I get home tomorrow......

Kenny Wallace and his childish behavior has turned me and many others off to the point I refuse to watch this nonsense more than 5 minutes. I tried to watch the Budweiser selection once again like last year I switched channels. For the life of me I don't get why this guy is still on the air. Sorry folks as long as Wallace is on I'm off.

Not to defend Kenny too much, but I cannot imagine how, exactly, I could come up with a concept for making an interesting show out of 25 people choosing bottles one at a time and peeling off the labels -- especially when the entire process was blocked at, what, 90 minutes?

Is this photo the original NASCAR Blazergate? The timeshifting thing is tough in the twitter age. I understand the reason, but at least take the "Live" off of the graphics package, Condolences to the Meyers family, and a get well to Barney Hall. With the ability to hear MRN broadcasts becoming easier, it will be great to hear some Barney Hall each race.

Cathy said..."Hoping that I get to hear Eli Gold's voice on MRN... It's been too long!"

I will be switching back and forth between TV audio and SiriusXM with the TV muted just to hear Eli Gold. Back in the days of the old TNN covering races, he was one of my favorite race announcers. I was really disappointed when he was not picked up by NBC for the first NASCAR contract that started in 2001.

Anonymous said..."JD have you heard of any apps that will be able to stream to mobile devices?"Daly Planet Editor said..."MRN says they do not yet have an app for streaming, must use the MRN website for now."

Apparently, the key words are "NOT YET". A couple similar questions were posted on Twitter last night after the announcement was made, and the reponse came back with those same words. Keep your eyes and ears open, maybe one is coming.

saltsburgtrojanfan said..."MRN's website is streaming classic Daytona 500's. Anyone who hasn't been there and listened to them should. It is a real treat."

Anyone that does not have SiriusXM in the car and house has missed a lot too. They have broadcast 2 classic races every Saturday and Sunday during the off season, including some that were never seen on TV. Fantastic! Hopefully they will continue that throughout the season when there are no races on either Saturday or Sunday. I particularly enjoyed the races from back in the 1970s andd 1980s.

I agree with a lot of the previous posters that Kenny Wallace wears on the nerves. And I would definitely like to see Rutledge Wood replace him. But don't expect that anytime soon. Speed really likes KW. A lot. It is a known fact that KW does have a hyperactivity disorder, and sometimes I think he "forgets" to take his meds.

PS a little AM station in Cincy (1360)area is allegedly going to be streaming tonight's race & the 500, according to Bill "Seg" Dennison of 700. Does this mean they will do all NASCAR races? Hoping! But local sports could easily blow nascar off the dial.

Still, would be totally cool to have OTA radio for sitting outside in nicer weather! :)

In the press release MRN sent out on Friday, "listeners in MRN markets will be able to access the broadcasts on the websites of individual stations which choose to stream the events." So, the affiliates can promote over their airwaves that they have streaming coverage of the races.

Sorry to hear about the loss of Chris Myers son. My thoughts are with his family and I hope that Barney Hall feels better soon.

I have had trackpass for ages it seems, never was a big fan of the raceview piece of it but NASCAR chose to do away with the pitcommand part of it. Lucky me, I can get the "new" version for the same price as I was paying because I am still in the program. They are going to have to prove to me that it will be worth my money to renew, otherwise, I'll just opt for the scanner when my renewal is up for next time.

Yeah, hard for the TV people to fool the viewers at home these days with their time shifting gig -- heard that the 48 had failed something in inspection, but didn't actually find out what it was since it was on the teeny scroll at the bottom of the screen and I didn't feel like getting up to try and read it.

thanks for keeping us up to date on all the changing pieces of the NASCAR puzzle, JD.

Garry, I'm with you, I stayed with the selection program only long enough to see Jeff Gordon draw since Kenny the Klown is just intolerable to me. Jeff picked 14 and KW says "Tony Stewart" - I'll bet Jeff was thrilled. Not. But then again, I'm sure all of them know Kenny's useless.

After that I turned it off and watched another channel. Speed has become a wasteland and a waste of time.

Steve Byrnes is making a huge difference on Raceday. Keeping the shenanigans to a minimum. The set looks spectacular. Matt Clarke kinda screwed up during his first report. Other than that I have no complaints so far. This is solid TV.